Care Leavers For a Better Future

EPIC

www.epiconline.ie

Suzanne O'Brien

Leaving care, support, participation

EPIC is a non-profit charity based in Ireland, with offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. EPIC provides a range of advocacy and support to children in care and care leavers. EPIC advovates act as independent support for children in care, and often represent children in court, or at access meetings. EPIC have started to run Care Leavers' Fora, which are meetings to allow care leavers the opportunity to gather and share their experiences of leaving care. Feedback is then given tob the National Child and Family Agency, Tusla. Surveys have been collated, and manuals with information for care leavers have been produced for different regions in Ireland.

The purpose of the is to support care leavers as they leave care, and to gather practices that work in different parts of Ireland and share them with professionals. This leads to the following outcomes: Improved standards of aftercare across Ireland, improved outcomes for care leavers, improved awareness for professionals, booklets for care leavers.

Main topics are: Independent living, homelessness, therapeutic support, aftercare allowance, educational outcomes

The practice allows continuity of support from children in care to care leavers from the advocacy support workers in EPIC. Over several months, care leavers felt the value of being listened to, with the production of booklets, survey results, and commentary on the difficulties faced by care leavers. Particiopation by care leavers improved over that timeframe, and support organisations were more aware of their responsibilities to care leavers in finding accommodation, education, and therapeutic services.

Participation groups are very effective if organised over a long period of time, and the results are shared with the appropriate professionals.